Egyptian four-year-old's life sentence a mistake, military says
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Critics say the child's conviction has made a laughing stock of Egyptian justice
Spokesman Col Mohammed Samir said the court should have sentenced a 16-year-old with a similar name instead.Ahmed Mansour Qurani Ali was convicted along with 115 others in connection with riots by Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Fayoum province in 2014.His lawyer had submitted documents proving that he was one at the time.
In a post on Facebook (in Arabic), Col Samir said Ahmed Mansour Qurani Sharara, 16, should have been sentenced and not Ahmed Mansour Qurani Ali.It not clear what will now happen to the four year old.
It is not uncommon in this part of the world for parents to actually punish their children when they show signs of depression associating it with issues of indiscipline, and as a result, the poor child will be lashed or given some kind of punishment. We have had many suicide cases in the country and sadly some of the cases included children and young adults. We need to start looking into issues of mental health with the seriousness it...